In vitro multi-cellular 3D cultures can provide tremendous insight into pathologies arising from dysregulation of extracellular communication by recapitulating key features of the microenvironment, such as ECM-cytokine ...

Methylating agents are ubiquitous in our internal and external environments and can cause damage to all cellular components, including our DNA. If left unrepaired, methylated DNA can cause mutations, cell death, and disease, ...

Materials that can interact with and transit membranes without toxic bilayer disruption or poration are of great interest in the drug delivery field. These materials can presumably bypass endocytosis to directly enter the ...

The identification and quantification of high-dimensional relationships is a major challenge in the analysis of both biological and chemical systems. To address this challenge, a variety of experimental and computational ...

Oxidatively damaged DNA has been strongly associated with cancer, chronic degenerative diseases and aging. Guanine is the most frequently oxidized base in the DNA, and generation of a guanine radical cation (G'") as an ...

The procession of helix-tracking enzymes along a DNA molecule results in the formation of supercoils in the DNA, with positive supercoiling (overwinding) generated ahead of the enzyme, and negative supercoiling (underwinding) ...

Inspired by the toxicity mechanism of cisplatin in testicular cancer, a series of bi-functional genotoxicants has been designed that supplement their DNA damaging properties with the ability to interact with tumor specific ...

CD8+ T cells are the main adaptive immune system cell type responding to intracellular pathogens, particularly viruses, and tumor antigens. In the case of influenza, activated T cells migrate from the mediastinal (draining) ...

The cardiac ventricular muscle cell (myocyte) is a key experimental system for exploring the mechanical properties of the diseased and healthy heart. The myocyte experimental model provides a higher level of physiological ...

Articular cartilage is avascular, and defects have limited capacity for spontaneous healing. Angiogenesis may interfere with maturation of naturally avascular tissues. Our rationale is that the use of endostatin, a potent ...

Comb polymer, which consists of a hydrophobic poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) backbone with hydrophilic hydroxy-poly(ethylene oxide) (HPOEM) side chains, is a tool that has many possible applications for the study of liver ...

The genome holds the blueprint of life and heredity. In the case of the mammalian genome it is comprised of billions of DNA bases grouped into elements that we are beginning to understand (ie genes) and others we know ...

The aim of this thesis is to consider how fundamental engineering principles might best be applied to the design and construction of engineered biological systems. I begin by applying these principles to a key application ...

In adoptive cell therapy (ACT), autologous tumor-specific T-cells isolated from cancer patients or genetically engineered lymphocytes are activated and expanded ex vivo, then infused back into the individual to eliminate ...

The tongue is an intricately configured muscular organ, which undergoes a series of rapid shape changes intended to first configure and then transport the bolus from the oral cavity to the pharynx during swallowing. In ...

One of the most marvelous features of microbial life is its ability to thrive in such diverse and dynamic environments. My scientific interest lies in the variety of modes by which microbial life accomplishes this feat. ...

Cells communicate with other cells, and process cues from their environment, via signaling pathways, in which extracellular cues trigger a cascade of information flow, causing signaling molecules to become chemically, ...

The intestinal crypt is a highly dynamic system, as the entire epithelium is constantly turned over and renewed by the proliferative stem cells located at the bottom of the crypt. While this system is crucial for nutrient ...